Systems for providing electrical power are known in the art. For example, battery or fuel cell power systems, and hybrid systems that combine fossil fuel engines with batteries or fuel cells have been developed to provide power to motor vehicles such as cars, trucks, watercraft, and the like. Non-mobile, small-scale systems for generating and distributing power are also known. Electrical power systems may include non-fossil fuel power sources such as solar, solar-thermal, wind, geo-thermal, and/or hydroelectric energy sources.
The power generation steps and the power distribution or usage steps typically are not synchronized in time. Power storage and distribution systems, such as banks of batteries, fuel cells, or the like receive power from power generators and distribute the power to the external power users. It is desirable to optimize the efficiency and operational life of the power storage and distribution systems.
Certain batteries, for example, will degrade over time from cycling between a high charge level and a low charge level, and may even become mechanically damaged from such cycling. It is desirable that such batteries be maintained at a relatively high charge level to extend the useful life of the batteries.